Les Huguenots
Encyclopedia
Les Huguenots is a French opera
by Giacomo Meyerbeer
, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera
. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto
was written by Eugène Scribe
and Émile Deschamps
.
, recognising the need to continue to present lavish staging, a highly (melo)dramatic storyline, impressive orchestration and virtuoso parts for the soloists - the essential elements of the new genre of Grand Opera. Coming from a wealthy family, Meyerbeer could afford to take his time, dictate his own terms, and to be a perfectionist. The very detailed contract which Meyerbeer arranged with Veron
, director of the Opéra, for Les Huguenots (and which was drawn up for him by the lawyer Adolphe Crémieux
) is a testament to this. Whilst Meyerbeer was writing the opera, another opera with a similar setting and theme (Le pré aux clercs
by Ferdinand Hérold) was also produced in Paris (1832). Like Meyerbeer's, Hérold's work was extremely popular in its time, although it is now forgotten.
on 29 February 1836 (conductor: François Antoine Habeneck
), and was an immediate success. Both Adolphe Nourrit
and Cornélie Falcon were particularly praised by the critics for their singing and performances. It was indeed Falcon's last important creation before her voice so tragically failed in April of the following year. Berlioz called the score "a musical encyclopaedia". Les Huguenots was the first opera to be performed at the Opéra more than 1,000 times (the 1,000th performance being on 16 May 1906) and continued to be produced regularly up to 1936, more than a century after its premiere. Its many performances in all other of the world's major opera houses give it a claim to being the most successful opera of the 19th century.
Other first performances included London (Covent Garden Theatre), 20 June 1842, and New Orleans on 29 April 1839. Due to its subject matter it was sometimes staged under different titles such as The Guelfs and the Ghibellines (in Vienna
before 1848), Renato di Croenwald in Rome, or The Anglicans and the Puritan
s (in Munich
), to avoid inflaming religious tensions among its audiences.
Les Huguenots was chosen to open the present building of the Covent Garden Theatre in 1858. During the 1890s, when it was performed at the Metropolitan Opera
, it was often called 'the night of the seven stars', as the cast would include Lillian Nordica
, Nellie Melba
, Sofia Scalchi
, Jean de Reszke
, Édouard de Reszke
, Victor Maurel
and Pol Plançon
.
, the opera was given a new libretto as Dekabristi, about the historical Decembrists. (This Dekabristi is not to be confused with the better-known Yuri Shaporin opera of the same name.)
One reason for the lack of revivals is cost. Another is the extraordinary difficulty in casting the work. Les Huguenots has seven leading roles—two sopranos, one mezzo-soprano, two baritones, a tenor, and a bass. Moreover, the tenor part, Raoul, is one of the most taxing in all of opera. He is onstage for large sections of all 5 acts and his music is filled with extremely difficult high notes. Certainly, there is lack of modern-day virtuouso singers capable of performing Meyerbeer's operas with the sort of grace, stamina and technical panache that they need to have lavished upon them, if the composer's musical intentions are to be fully realised.
Dame Joan Sutherland
and Richard Bonynge
were the major force in the opera's revival during the second half of the 20th century. Sutherland chose the opera for her final performance - at the Sydney Opera House
on 2 October 1990, Bonynge conducting the Opera Australia
Orchestra.
In recent years, the opera has sometimes been performed in concert form, and there have been occasional revivals by European opera companies, including Leipzig
(1974), Royal Opera (London)
, Bilbao
(1999), Metz
(2004), Liège
(2005), and Brussels
(2011). In 1975, the New Orleans Opera
Association staged the epic, with Marisa Galvany
, Rita Shane
, Susanne Marsee
, Enrico Di Giuseppe
, Dominic Cossa
, and Paul Plishka
heading the cast.
Bard Summerscape
in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
, presented the opera in a fully staged production in August 2009, conducted by Leon Botstein
, directed by Thaddeus Strassberger
and designed by Eugenio Recuenco (decor), Mattie Ullrich (costumes) and Aaron Black (lighting). The cast included Alexandra Deshorties
, Michael Spyres, Erin Morley, Andrew Schroeder, Peter Volpe, Marie Lenormand and John Marcus Bindel.
The story culminates in the historical St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
in 1572 in which thousands of French Huguenot
s (Protestants) were slaughtered by Catholics in an effort to rid France of Protestant influence. Although the massacre was a historical event, the rest of the action, which primarily concerns the love between the Catholic Valentine and the Protestant Raoul, is wholly a creation of Scribe.
A short orchestral prelude, featuring the Lutheran chorale
Ein feste Burg
, replaces the extended overture Meyerbeer originally intended for the opera. The Catholic Count of Nevers is entertaining his fellow noblemen. They await the arrival of Raoul, and are surprised to hear that this emissary of the Court is a Huguenot. After a drinking song at Raoul's entry, the newcomer is prevailed upon to give a tale of love. Raoul tells of an unknown beauty he has rescued and fallen in love with. (With a daring and unusual stroke of orchestration
, Meyerbeer accompanies this aria with a solo viola d'amore
). Raoul's Protestant servant Marcel is shocked to see his master in such wicked company and sings a hearty Protestant prayer (to the tune of 'Ein fester Burg'). He then sings a Huguenot battle song from the siege of La Rochelle
, Pif, paf.
The arrival of a mysterious lady stranger to speak to Nevers (off stage) interrupts the proceedings. Raoul recognises her as his mysterious beauty. In fact she is Nevers' intended bride, Valentine (daughter of St. Bris), instructed by the Queen to break off her engagement. The page Urbain enters with a secret message for Raoul, daring him to come blindfolded to a secret rendezvous.
Queen Marguerite looks into a mirror held by her enamoured page Urbain, and sings the virtuoso pastorale
, O beau pays de la Touraine. Valentine enters and reports that Nevers has agreed to break the engagement. Marguerite's entourage of ladies enter dressed for bathing. This leads to a ballet. Raoul enters blindfolded and the ladies tease him. With his sight restored, the Queen orders Raoul to marry Valentine to cement relations between the Protestant and Catholic factions. In a complex final ensemble, while a chorus of nobles swears friendship, Raoul, who believes Valentine is the mistress of Nevers, refuses to comply with the Queen's command. The nobles then swear revenge, and Marcel reproaches Raoul for mixing with Catholics.
of the Seine
, at sunset
The act opens with extensive scene setting of citizens, soldiers, church-goers and gypsies. Valentine has just married Nevers, but remains in the chapel to pray. Marcel delivers a challenge from Raoul. Saint-Bris decides to attack Raoul, but is overheard by Valentine. A watchman declares curfew (the scene anticipating a similar one in Wagner's Die Meistersinger). Valentine, in disguise, tells Marcel of the plot against Raoul. The duel is interrupted by rival factions of Protestant and Catholic students, and only the arrival of the Queen stems the chaos. Raoul realises that Valentine has saved him and that his suspicions of her were unfounded. However, now she is wedded to his enemy. Nevers leads her away in a splendid procession.
Valentine, alone, is surprised by Raoul who wishes to have one last meeting with her. The sound of approaching people leads Raoul to hide behind a curtain, where he hears the Catholic nobles, accompanied by three monks, who bless their swords, pledge to murder the Huguenots. Only Nevers does not join in the oath. This scene is generally judged the most gripping in the opera, and is accompanied by some of its most dramatic music. When the nobles have departed, Raoul is torn between warning his fellows and staying with Valentine, but finally duty triumphs over love. Valentine faints as Raoul makes his escape.
The Protestants are celebrating the marriage of the Queen to Henry of Navarre. The tolling of a bell interrupts the proceeding, as does the entrance of Raoul, who informs the assembly that the second stroke was the signal for the Catholic massacre of the Huguenots.
Scene 2: a cemetery: in the background a ruined Protestant church
Nevers dies protecting Marcel, who is wounded; Valentine agrees to become a Protestant to marry Raoul and Marcel carries out the nuptials. A 'chorus of murderers' shoots all three, after they express their vision of heaven, 'with six harps'. They are finally murdered by St. Bris and his men, he realising only too late that he has killed his own daughter. (Cf. the closing scene of Fromental Halévy
's opera, La Juive
, libretto also by Scribe, produced a year earlier than Les Huguenots). The entrance of the Queen, and the chorus of soldiers singing 'God wants blood!', brings the opera to a close.
and a year after Fromental Halévy
's La Juive
, Les Huguenots consolidated the genre of Grand Opera
, in which the Paris Opéra would specialise for the next generation, and which became a major box-office attraction for opera houses all over the world.
Hector Berlioz
's contemporary account is full of praise: with 'Meyerbeer in command at the first desk [of violins] [...] from beginning to end I found [the orchestral playing] superb in its beauty and refinement [...] The richness of texture in the Pré-aux-Clercs scene [act III] [...] was extraordinary, yet the ear could follow it with such ease that every strand in the composer's complex thought was continually apparent - a marvel of dramatic counterpoint'.
The immense success of the opera encouraged many musicians, including Franz Liszt
and Sigismond Thalberg
, to create virtuosic piano works based on its themes.
A military slow march
based on the prelude to Les Huguenots is played every year during the ceremony of Trooping the Colour
at Horse Guards Parade
in London
.
French Opera
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen...
by Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
was written by Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
and Émile Deschamps
Émile Deschamps
Émile de Saint-Amand Deschamps was a French poet. He was born at Bourges. Deschamps was one of the chiefs of the Romantic school. To further the cause of romanticism he founded with Victor Hugo La Muse Française , a journal to which he contributed verses and stories signed "Le Jeune Moraliste." ...
.
Composition history
Les Huguenots was some five years in creation. Meyerbeer prepared carefully for this opera after the sensational success of Robert le diableRobert le diable (opera)
Robert le diable is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, often regarded as the first grand opera. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Casimir Delavigne and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique, "Meyerbeer persuaded...
, recognising the need to continue to present lavish staging, a highly (melo)dramatic storyline, impressive orchestration and virtuoso parts for the soloists - the essential elements of the new genre of Grand Opera. Coming from a wealthy family, Meyerbeer could afford to take his time, dictate his own terms, and to be a perfectionist. The very detailed contract which Meyerbeer arranged with Veron
Louis Desiré Veron
Louis-Désiré Véron was a French opera manager and publisher.-Biography:Véron originally made his fortune from patent medicines. In 1829 he founded the literary magazine Revue de Paris, and from 1838 to 1852 was owner and director of Le Constitutionnel, in which he published Eugene Sue's novel...
, director of the Opéra, for Les Huguenots (and which was drawn up for him by the lawyer Adolphe Crémieux
Adolphe Crémieux
Adolphe Crémieux was a French-Jewish lawyer and statesman, and a staunch defender of the human rights of the Jews of France. - Biography :...
) is a testament to this. Whilst Meyerbeer was writing the opera, another opera with a similar setting and theme (Le pré aux clercs
Le Pré aux clercs
Le pré aux clercs is an opéra comique in three acts by Ferdinand Hérold with a libretto by François-Antoine-Eugène de Planard based on Prosper Mérimée's Chronique du temps de Charles IX of 1829.-Performance history:...
by Ferdinand Hérold) was also produced in Paris (1832). Like Meyerbeer's, Hérold's work was extremely popular in its time, although it is now forgotten.
Performance history
Les Huguenots premiered at the Paris OpéraParis Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
on 29 February 1836 (conductor: François Antoine Habeneck
François Antoine Habeneck
François Antoine Habeneck was a French violinist and conductor.- Early life :Habeneck was born at Mézières, the son of a musician in a French regimental band. During his early youth, Habeneck was taught by his father, and at the age of ten played concertos in public...
), and was an immediate success. Both Adolphe Nourrit
Adolphe Nourrit
Adolphe Nourrit was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini....
and Cornélie Falcon were particularly praised by the critics for their singing and performances. It was indeed Falcon's last important creation before her voice so tragically failed in April of the following year. Berlioz called the score "a musical encyclopaedia". Les Huguenots was the first opera to be performed at the Opéra more than 1,000 times (the 1,000th performance being on 16 May 1906) and continued to be produced regularly up to 1936, more than a century after its premiere. Its many performances in all other of the world's major opera houses give it a claim to being the most successful opera of the 19th century.
Other first performances included London (Covent Garden Theatre), 20 June 1842, and New Orleans on 29 April 1839. Due to its subject matter it was sometimes staged under different titles such as The Guelfs and the Ghibellines (in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
before 1848), Renato di Croenwald in Rome, or The Anglicans and the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
s (in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
), to avoid inflaming religious tensions among its audiences.
Les Huguenots was chosen to open the present building of the Covent Garden Theatre in 1858. During the 1890s, when it was performed at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, it was often called 'the night of the seven stars', as the cast would include Lillian Nordica
Lillian Nordica
Lillian Nordica was an American opera singer who had a major stage career in Europe and her native country....
, Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
, Sofia Scalchi
Sofia Scalchi
Sofia Scalchi was an Italian operatic contralto who could also sing in the mezzo-soprano range. Her career was international, and she appeared at leading theatres in both Europe and America.-Singing career:...
, Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....
, Édouard de Reszke
Edouard de Reszke
Édouard de Reszke, originally Edward, was a Polish bass from Warsaw. Born with an impressive natural voice and equipped with compelling histrionic skills, he became one of the most illustrious opera singers active in Europe and America during the late-Victorian Era.-Career:Édouard de Reszke was...
, Victor Maurel
Victor Maurel
Victor Maurel was a French operatic baritone who enjoyed an international reputation as a great singing-actor.-Biography:...
and Pol Plançon
Pol Plançon
Pol-Henri Plançon was a distinguished French operatic bass . He was one of the most acclaimed singers active during the 1880s, 1890s and early 20th century—a period often referred to as the "Golden Age of Opera".In addition to being among the earliest international opera stars to have made...
.
Soviet adaptation
In Soviet RussiaSoviet Russia
Soviet Russia usually refers to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union. It may also denote:* Soviet Russia , magazine of the Friends of Soviet Russia in the United States...
, the opera was given a new libretto as Dekabristi, about the historical Decembrists. (This Dekabristi is not to be confused with the better-known Yuri Shaporin opera of the same name.)
Modern revivals
Like others of Meyerbeer's operas, Les Huguenots lost favor in the early part of the twentieth century and it no longer forms part of the standard operatic repertoire.One reason for the lack of revivals is cost. Another is the extraordinary difficulty in casting the work. Les Huguenots has seven leading roles—two sopranos, one mezzo-soprano, two baritones, a tenor, and a bass. Moreover, the tenor part, Raoul, is one of the most taxing in all of opera. He is onstage for large sections of all 5 acts and his music is filled with extremely difficult high notes. Certainly, there is lack of modern-day virtuouso singers capable of performing Meyerbeer's operas with the sort of grace, stamina and technical panache that they need to have lavished upon them, if the composer's musical intentions are to be fully realised.
Dame Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
and Richard Bonynge
Richard Bonynge
Richard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
were the major force in the opera's revival during the second half of the 20th century. Sutherland chose the opera for her final performance - at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
on 2 October 1990, Bonynge conducting the Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
Orchestra.
In recent years, the opera has sometimes been performed in concert form, and there have been occasional revivals by European opera companies, including Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
(1974), Royal Opera (London)
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
, Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
(1999), Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
(2004), Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
(2005), and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(2011). In 1975, the New Orleans Opera
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and for the majority of the city's history since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to...
Association staged the epic, with Marisa Galvany
Marisa Galvany
Marisa Galvany is an American soprano who had an active international career performing in operas and concerts up into the early 2000s. Known for the great intensity of her performances, Galvany particularly excelled in portraying Verdi heroines...
, Rita Shane
Rita Shane
Rita Shane is a dramatic coloratura soprano. She studied at Barnard College and under Beverly Peck Johnson, and made her operatic debut as the doll Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, at Chattanooga in 1964...
, Susanne Marsee
Susanne Marsee
Susanne Marsee is an American mezzo-soprano of note. She was one of the New York City Opera's leading mezzo-sopranos from 1970, when she debuted opposite Beverly Sills, Plácido Domingo and Louis Quilico, in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, with Julius Rudel conducting Tito Capobianco's...
, Enrico Di Giuseppe
Enrico Di Giuseppe
Enrico Di Giuseppe was a celebrated Italian-American operatic tenor who had an active performance career from the late 1950s through the 1990s. He spent most of his career performing in New York City, juggling concurrent performance contracts with both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan...
, Dominic Cossa
Dominic Cossa
Dominic Cossa is an American operatic lyric baritone particularly associated with the Italian and French repertoire.-Biography:...
, and Paul Plishka
Paul Plishka
Paul Plishka is a Ukrainian-American bass opera singer.Mr Plishka comes from Old Forge, Pennsylvania and Paterson, New Jersey; his parents were American-born children of Ukrainian immigrants...
heading the cast.
Bard Summerscape
Bard SummerScape
Bard SummerScape is an annual seven week long arts festival held during the months of July and August at Bard College. Founded in 2002, the festival is held in tandem with the Bard Music Festival and features performances of opera, dance, theater, music, film, and cabaret. The festival attracts...
in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, USA, in the Hudson Valley in the town of Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston....
, presented the opera in a fully staged production in August 2009, conducted by Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein is an American conductor and the President of Bard College . Botstein is the music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director and principal conductor from 2003-2010...
, directed by Thaddeus Strassberger
Thaddeus Strassberger
Thaddeus Strassberger is a celebrated American opera director and scenic designer. In 2005 he was awarded the European Opera Directing Prize by Opera Europa for his work on Opera Ireland's production of Rossini's La Cenerentola.-Biography:...
and designed by Eugenio Recuenco (decor), Mattie Ullrich (costumes) and Aaron Black (lighting). The cast included Alexandra Deshorties
Alexandra Deshorties
Alexandra Deshorties is a French-Canadian soprano, and sings principally opera. She was born in Canada and raised in Marseilles, France....
, Michael Spyres, Erin Morley, Andrew Schroeder, Peter Volpe, Marie Lenormand and John Marcus Bindel.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 29 February 1836 (Conductor: François Antoine Habeneck François Antoine Habeneck François Antoine Habeneck was a French violinist and conductor.- Early life :Habeneck was born at Mézières, the son of a musician in a French regimental band. During his early youth, Habeneck was taught by his father, and at the age of ten played concertos in public... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Marguerite de Valois Marguerite de Valois Margaret of Valois was Queen of France and of Navarre during the late sixteenth century... , Queen of Navarre Navarre Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France... |
soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Julie Dorus-Gras Julie Dorus-Gras Julie Dorus-Gras was a Belgian operatic soprano.-Early life and training:She was born Julie-Aimée-Josèphe Van Steenkiste, the daughter of an ex-soldier who was the leader of the theatre orchestra in her native city Valenciennes... |
| Valentine, daughter of Count de Saint-Bris | soprano | Marie Cornélie Falcon |
| Urbain, the Queen's page | soprano | Maria Flécheux |
| Raoul de Nangis, a Protestant gentleman | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini.... |
| Marcel, a Huguenot soldier, Raoul's servant | bass | Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur |
| Le Comte de Nevers, a Catholic gentleman | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Prosper Dérivis Prosper Dérivis Nicolas-Prosper Dérivis was a French operatic bass. He possessed a rich deep voice that had a great carrying power. While he could easily assail heavy dramatic roles, he was also capable of executing difficult coloratura passages and performing more lyrical parts... |
| Le Comte de Saint-Bris, a Catholic gentleman | baritone | Jean-Jacques-Émile Serda |
| Bois-Rosé, a Huguenot soldier | tenor | Pierre-François Wartel |
| Maurevert, a Catholic gentleman | baritone | Bernadet |
| Tavannes, a Catholic gentleman | tenor | Alexis Dupont |
| Cossé, a Catholic gentleman | tenor | Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol was a French operatic tenor and later baritone who sang in the world premieres of many French operas.... |
| Thoré, a Catholic gentleman | tenor | Pierre-François Wartel |
| De Retz, a Catholic gentleman | baritone | Alexandre Prévost |
| Méru, a Catholic gentleman | baritone | Ferdinand Prévost |
| Two Maids-of-Honor | soprano | Gosselin and Laurent |
| Chorus: Catholic and Huguenot ladies and gentlemen of the court, soldiers, pages, citizens, and populace; night watch, monks, students | ||
Synopsis
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots , during the French Wars of Religion...
in 1572 in which thousands of French Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s (Protestants) were slaughtered by Catholics in an effort to rid France of Protestant influence. Although the massacre was a historical event, the rest of the action, which primarily concerns the love between the Catholic Valentine and the Protestant Raoul, is wholly a creation of Scribe.
Act 1
The chateau of the CountA short orchestral prelude, featuring the Lutheran chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
Ein feste Burg
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" is the best known of Martin Luther's hymns. Luther wrote the words and composed the melody sometime between 1527 and 1529. It has been translated into English at least seventy times and also into many other languages...
, replaces the extended overture Meyerbeer originally intended for the opera. The Catholic Count of Nevers is entertaining his fellow noblemen. They await the arrival of Raoul, and are surprised to hear that this emissary of the Court is a Huguenot. After a drinking song at Raoul's entry, the newcomer is prevailed upon to give a tale of love. Raoul tells of an unknown beauty he has rescued and fallen in love with. (With a daring and unusual stroke of orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
, Meyerbeer accompanies this aria with a solo viola d'amore
Viola d'amore
The viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
). Raoul's Protestant servant Marcel is shocked to see his master in such wicked company and sings a hearty Protestant prayer (to the tune of 'Ein fester Burg'). He then sings a Huguenot battle song from the siege of La Rochelle
Siege of La Rochelle (1572-1573)
The Siege of La Rochelle of 1572–1573 was a massive military assault on the Huguenot-held city of La Rochelle by Catholic troops during the fourth phase of the French Wars of Religion, following the August 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The conflict began in November 1572 when inhabitants of...
, Pif, paf.
The arrival of a mysterious lady stranger to speak to Nevers (off stage) interrupts the proceedings. Raoul recognises her as his mysterious beauty. In fact she is Nevers' intended bride, Valentine (daughter of St. Bris), instructed by the Queen to break off her engagement. The page Urbain enters with a secret message for Raoul, daring him to come blindfolded to a secret rendezvous.
Act 2
The chateau and gardens of ChenonceauxChenonceaux
Chenonceaux is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.It is situated in the Loire Valley, about 26 km east of Tours...
Queen Marguerite looks into a mirror held by her enamoured page Urbain, and sings the virtuoso pastorale
Pastorale
For Beethoven's Pastoral symphony, see Symphony No. 6 Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood....
, O beau pays de la Touraine. Valentine enters and reports that Nevers has agreed to break the engagement. Marguerite's entourage of ladies enter dressed for bathing. This leads to a ballet. Raoul enters blindfolded and the ladies tease him. With his sight restored, the Queen orders Raoul to marry Valentine to cement relations between the Protestant and Catholic factions. In a complex final ensemble, while a chorus of nobles swears friendship, Raoul, who believes Valentine is the mistress of Nevers, refuses to comply with the Queen's command. The nobles then swear revenge, and Marcel reproaches Raoul for mixing with Catholics.
Act 3
Paris, the 'Pré aux clercs' on the left bankRive Gauche
La Rive Gauche is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two: looking downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank is to the right....
of the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
, at sunset
The act opens with extensive scene setting of citizens, soldiers, church-goers and gypsies. Valentine has just married Nevers, but remains in the chapel to pray. Marcel delivers a challenge from Raoul. Saint-Bris decides to attack Raoul, but is overheard by Valentine. A watchman declares curfew (the scene anticipating a similar one in Wagner's Die Meistersinger). Valentine, in disguise, tells Marcel of the plot against Raoul. The duel is interrupted by rival factions of Protestant and Catholic students, and only the arrival of the Queen stems the chaos. Raoul realises that Valentine has saved him and that his suspicions of her were unfounded. However, now she is wedded to his enemy. Nevers leads her away in a splendid procession.
Act 4
A room in Nevers' Parisian town-houseValentine, alone, is surprised by Raoul who wishes to have one last meeting with her. The sound of approaching people leads Raoul to hide behind a curtain, where he hears the Catholic nobles, accompanied by three monks, who bless their swords, pledge to murder the Huguenots. Only Nevers does not join in the oath. This scene is generally judged the most gripping in the opera, and is accompanied by some of its most dramatic music. When the nobles have departed, Raoul is torn between warning his fellows and staying with Valentine, but finally duty triumphs over love. Valentine faints as Raoul makes his escape.
Act 5
Scene 1: a ballroomThe Protestants are celebrating the marriage of the Queen to Henry of Navarre. The tolling of a bell interrupts the proceeding, as does the entrance of Raoul, who informs the assembly that the second stroke was the signal for the Catholic massacre of the Huguenots.
Scene 2: a cemetery: in the background a ruined Protestant church
Nevers dies protecting Marcel, who is wounded; Valentine agrees to become a Protestant to marry Raoul and Marcel carries out the nuptials. A 'chorus of murderers' shoots all three, after they express their vision of heaven, 'with six harps'. They are finally murdered by St. Bris and his men, he realising only too late that he has killed his own daughter. (Cf. the closing scene of Fromental Halévy
Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy , was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.-Early career:...
's opera, La Juive
La Juive
La Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on February 23, 1835.-Composition history:...
, libretto also by Scribe, produced a year earlier than Les Huguenots). The entrance of the Queen, and the chorus of soldiers singing 'God wants blood!', brings the opera to a close.
Influence
Following five years after Meyebeer's own Robert le diableRobert le diable (opera)
Robert le diable is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, often regarded as the first grand opera. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Casimir Delavigne and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique, "Meyerbeer persuaded...
and a year after Fromental Halévy
Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy , was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.-Early career:...
's La Juive
La Juive
La Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on February 23, 1835.-Composition history:...
, Les Huguenots consolidated the genre of Grand Opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
, in which the Paris Opéra would specialise for the next generation, and which became a major box-office attraction for opera houses all over the world.
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
's contemporary account is full of praise: with 'Meyerbeer in command at the first desk [of violins] [...] from beginning to end I found [the orchestral playing] superb in its beauty and refinement [...] The richness of texture in the Pré-aux-Clercs scene [act III] [...] was extraordinary, yet the ear could follow it with such ease that every strand in the composer's complex thought was continually apparent - a marvel of dramatic counterpoint'.
The immense success of the opera encouraged many musicians, including Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
and Sigismond Thalberg
Sigismond Thalberg
Sigismond Thalberg was a composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.- Descent and family background :...
, to create virtuosic piano works based on its themes.
A military slow march
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
based on the prelude to Les Huguenots is played every year during the ceremony of Trooping the Colour
Trooping the Colour
Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British and the Commonwealth armies. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, although the roots go back much earlier. On battlefields, a regiment's colours, or flags, were used as rallying points...
at Horse Guards Parade
Horse Guards Parade
Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference . It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat.-History:...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Arias
Several late 19th-Century singers versed in the genuine Meyerbeerian performance style made acoustic gramophone recordings of arias from Les Huguenots and other works. Many of these early recordings have been remastered and reissued on CD recitals. They are valuable musicological research tools.Complete recordings
| Year | Cast (Marguerite, Valentine, Urbain, Raoul, Marcel, Nevers, Saint-Bris) |
Conductor, Opera house and orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Joan Sutherland Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s.... , Martina Arroyo Martina Arroyo Martina Arroyo is an operatic soprano of Puerto Rican and African-American descent who had a major international opera career during the 1960s through the 1980s... , Huguette Tourangeau Huguette Tourangeau Huguette Tourangeau, is a French-Canadian operatic mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories.- Life and career :... , Anastasios Vrenios, Nicola Ghiuselev, Dominic Cossa Dominic Cossa Dominic Cossa is an American operatic lyric baritone particularly associated with the Italian and French repertoire.-Biography:... , Gabriel Bacquier Gabriel Bacquier Gabriel Bacquier is a French operatic baritone. One of the leading baritones of the 20th century and particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories, he is considered a fine singing-actor equally at home in dramatic or comic roles.-Life and career:Gabriel Bacquier was born in... |
Richard Bonynge Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for... , New Philharmonia Orchestra Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke... , Ambrosian Opera Chorus |
CD: Decca 430 549-2 |
| 1971 | Rita Shane Rita Shane Rita Shane is a dramatic coloratura soprano. She studied at Barnard College and under Beverly Peck Johnson, and made her operatic debut as the doll Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, at Chattanooga in 1964... , Enriqueta Tarres, Jeanette Scovotti Jeanette Scovotti -Life and career:In 1956 she was in the ensemble of the original Broadway cast of Li'l Abner; the only Broadway production she ever appeared in. In 1959 she won the New York Singing Teachers Association contest and presented a solo recital at Town Hall. That same year she made her debut at the New... , Nicolai Gedda Nicolai Gedda Nicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history... , Justino Diaz Justino Díaz Justino Díaz is an internationally renowned bass-baritone opera singer. In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the "first" Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made his Metropolitan debut on October 1963 in Verdi's Rigoletto... , Pedro Farres, Dimitri Petkov |
Ernst Märzendorfer Ernst Märzendorfer Ernst Märzendorfer was an Austrian conductor. He was the first conductor to make a complete recording of the 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn, and conducted a number of important opera premieres.-Biography:... , Orchestra & Chorus of the Austrian Radio (Broadcast 17 February, Grosser Konzerthaussaal Konzerthaus, Vienna The Konzerthaus in Vienna was opened 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both tradition and innovative musical styles.In 1890 the first ideas for a Haus für Musikfeste came about... , Vienna) |
CD: Opera D'Oro 1464 |
| 1988 | Ghyslaine Raphanel, Françoise Pollet, Danièle Borst, Richard Leech Richard Leech Richard Leech , born Richard Leeper McClelland, was an accomplished actor.Richard Leeper McClelland was born in Dublin, Ireland, son of Isabella Frances and Herbert Saunderson McClelland, a lawyer. He was educated at Haileybury and Trinity College, Dublin... , Nicola Ghiuselev, Gilles Cachemaille, Boris Martinovich |
Cyril Diederich, Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier |
CD: Erato 2292-45027-2 |
| 1990 | Joan Sutherland Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s.... , Amanda Thane, Suzanne Johnston, Anson Austin, Clifford Grant Clifford Grant Clifford Scantlebury Grant is a retired Australian operatic bass singer.Clifford Grant was born in Sydney. In 1966 he joined Sadler's Wells Opera company and on 20 December 1974 he had his debut at the Royal Opera House in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, in the role of Doctor Bartolo... , John Pringle John Pringle (baritone) John Pringle AM is a retired Australian operatic baritone. He sang leading and supporting roles with Opera Australia and its predecessors for 41 years , and with some overseas companies... , John Wegner |
Richard Bonynge Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for... , Opera Australia Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne... |
DVD: Opus Arte OAF 4024D |
| 1991 | Angela Denning, Lucy Peacock, Camille Capasso, Richard Leech Richard Leech Richard Leech , born Richard Leeper McClelland, was an accomplished actor.Richard Leeper McClelland was born in Dublin, Ireland, son of Isabella Frances and Herbert Saunderson McClelland, a lawyer. He was educated at Haileybury and Trinity College, Dublin... , Martin Blasius, Lenus Carlson, Hartmut Welker |
Stefan Soltesz, Deutsche Oper Berlin Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:... (German translation by Ignatz Franz Castelli) |
DVD: ArtHaus Musik 100 156 |
Scores
- Réminiscences des Huguenots, S.412 for pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
by Franz LisztFranz LisztFranz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
at IMSLP - Grande Fantaisie sur l'opera de Meyerbeer 'Les Huguenots', Op.43 for piano by Sigismond ThalbergSigismond ThalbergSigismond Thalberg was a composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.- Descent and family background :...
at IMSLP